Adjustable shower head



May 21,1968 A. M. MOEN ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD Filed April 8, 1966 United States Patent Oflice 3,384,307 Patented May 21, 1968 3,384,307 ADJUSTABLE SHOWER HEAD Alfred M. Moen, 25 Lakeview Drive, Grafton, Ohio 44044 Filed Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 541,169 6 Claims. (Cl. 239-460) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An adjustable shower head having a ball retainer, a hollow tubular body which connects to the ball retainer, a body shell which fits around the hollow tubular body and slides in engagement with the ball retainer, and a water former positioned at the lower end of the hollow tubular body. The water former is connected to a partition formed in the hollow tubular body by a fastener which is removable only through the upper or inlet end of the shower head. The spray former and the body shell cooperate to form a series of outlet passages for the discharge of the water from the hollow tubular body. An eccentric is rotatably mounted on the hollow body by means of a handle to raise and lower the body shell relative to the spray former to vary the number of rings of water jets discharging from the shower head. An air check valve is provided in the hollow tubular body to limit the back flow of air through the shower head when the water is not discharging from the shower head.

This invention relates to a shower head and has for one object to provide an adjustable shower head.

Another object is to provide a construction so arranged that the shower head may be readily adjusted for cleaning by removal of foreign matter which may have lodged in the spray former or elsewhere in the shower head assembly.

A further object is to provide a shower head construction which can be readily mounted upon a conventional shower outlet.

A still further object is to provide a relatively inexpensive shower head construction of sturdy and relatively simple parts which may be readily assembled.

Other objects will appear in the ensuing description and claims.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the shower head,

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section taken at line 22 of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged plan view of the spray former, taken from the inside and looking in the direction of water flow, and with the spray former in section, and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged plan view of a water guiding partition-like member formed in the shower body, looking upwardly from the bottom of the shower head.

Like numerals will be used to designate like parts in the following description of the invention.

1 is the shower head body, threaded at its upper end at 2. It is provided with a partition or water directing member 3 which is shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 as integral with the body portion 1 and is provided with one or more perforations 4 which define water passages. It is provided also with a perforation 5 through which an attaching screw may pass. It is further provided with a rounded portion 6, interiorly threaded at 7 to receive a handle supporting screw. At its lower end, the body is provided with one or more notches 8 through which water may pass toward the spray former. The body is provided intermediate its ends with a laterally directed enlargement 9, grooved at 16 to receive an O-ring 11.

12 is a ball which may have flat portions 13 on its exterior to receive a tool by which it may be mounted upon a water pipe or other means for conducting water to the shower head. The ball is provided with a passage 14 through which water reaches the interior of the shower head. A shoulder 15 may be formed at the downstream end of the passage 14.

A ball retainer 16 is of generally cylindrical shape but it is provided with an internal shoulder or flange 17 which embraces the ball 12 and may be shaped to conform with its contour. The ball retainer 16 is provided also with an outwardly directed shoulder 16'. The ball retainer is threaded internally at 18 to engage the threaded portion 2 of the body and may be externally notched or grooved as at 19. The purpose of this is to provide a roughened outer surface, by means of which the ball retainer may be engaged manually or by a tool for rotation so that it may be moved into engagement with the threads 2 of the body 1.

20 is a body shell which may be of generally flaring shape downwardly. At its upper end it is provided preferably with an internally directed flange or shoulder 21. It is open at its lower end as at 22 and is grooved at 23 to receive a washer 24 which faces the spray former.

The spray former 25 is circular. It is bevelled about its outer, upper edge, as at 25. It is provided with a central member 26 which is hollow and threaded at 27. The spray former includes a generally flat surface 28 which, in the form shown, is reinforced by a plurality of spokelike parts 29. The spray former is provided along its. edges with a plurality of spray forming notches. These notches vary in depth and, as shown in FIGURE 3, there are notches of four varying sizes or depths. There is thus a shallow notch or groove 30 which is one of a series of straight sided grooves, as shown in FIGURE 2. The other grooves are inclined to the center axis of the spray former. Series of grooves 31, 32 and 33 are positioned about the periphery of the spray former, as shown in FIGURE 3. Their angle of inclination varies progressively and their depth at the upstream portion of the spray former varies progressively. At the discharge end or downstream edge of the spray former, they are preferably of uniform depth, which is the same as the depth of the grodves 30. Thus the discharge end of each spray former channel formed by each of the grooves or notches 30, 31, 32 and 33 is equidistant from the inner face of the washer 23.

34 is a screw which passes through the opening 5 and engages the threading within the hollow portion 26 of the spray former 25. It also passes through an opening 35 in an air disk or seat 36 which is positioned to contact the under face of the portion 3 of the body 1. The opening 35 is substantially larger than the diameter of the screw 34 and provides an air clearance about the screw. A spring 37 is positioned about the screw 34 and bears at one end upon the upper surface of the portion 26 of the spray former 25. At its other end, it bears against the downstream surface of the air disk. As shown, the air disk will be held in the position of FIGURE 2 since the spring 37 is biased to hold it in that position. The pressure of water will compress the springs 37 and move the air disk downwardly. It will continue in that position as long as adequate water pressure is exerted through the openings 4.

The body shell 20 is provided with a round perforation 38 in which is positioned for rotation an eccentric which appears in section in FIGURE 2 and in dotted lines in FIGURE 1. 40 is a handle provided on one face with a suitable cavity which interfits with the eccentric 39, as shown particularly in FIGURE 2.

The handle and the eccentric are rotatably mounted upon a bearing member 41 which has a reduced threaded portion 42 which is received in the body 1 by engagement with the thread 7, as shown in FIGURE 2. Bearing member 41 has a slotted head 4-3 by which it is rotated into position, as shown in FIGURE 2. In assembly the eccentric cam and the handle are mounted for rotation about the handle screw 41.

The use, operation and function of the invention are as follows:

The device of this invention is intended as a shower head and the ball 12, which is preferably screw threaded internally adjacent the upper end of the passage 14, is secured to a water supply pipe. When no water is passing into the shower head, the air disk 36 will remain in the upper position, as shown in FIGURE 2, under the influence of the spring 37.

When water is introduced into the shower head through the passage 13, it will pass through the holes or openings 4 and after coming in contact with the air disk 36, will compress the spring 37 sufficiently to move the air disk downwardly and to clear the passage for water to move through the holes 4 and the interior of the lower portion of the body below the member 3. It will move thence through the openings 8 in the body and finally it will move outwardly for discharge from the shower head around the periphery of the spray former 25. Whatever position the spray former may occupy, water will be discharged about this periphery and will pass through the grooves 30, 31, 32, and 33 and through the spray openings formed by them in cooperation with the washer 24.

To adjust the spray former vertically, the handle is rotated. In its rotation, it carries the circular eccentric cam 39 and, since this cam is engaged in a circular opening within the shell 20, rotation of the handle 40 raises and lowers the shell 28. It is shown in its lowermost position in FIGURE 2. In this position, water emerging through the grooves 30, 31, 32 and 33 will be discharged in a substantially single ring of jets in a straight path following generally the line indicated at in FIGURE 2. This is due to the fact that all of the grooves have substantially the same depth at their discharge ends and therefore, their shallow depth cooperates with the seal 24 to form in each case water discharge openings of substantially identical sizes and direction.

As the handle is rotated, carrying with it the eccentric cam, the body shell 20 is raised. As it moves progressively upwardly, a larger proportion of each groove 31, 32, 33 is progressively uncovered. Since these grooves are formed with different angles of inclination, as shown in plan in FIGURE 3 and in elevation in FIGURE 2, the direction of the jets emerging from each of the grooves 31, 32, 33 will be altered. Each of these grooves has an individual angle of inclination with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shower head assembly. Therefore, as the body shell 20 moves upwardly, the shower head begins to deliver not a single ring of jets, but a plurality of separate concentric, differently directed series of jets. When the shell is in the full upper spray position, there will be four series of jets, the innermost being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shower head and the jets defined by the grooves 33 being of greater outward inclination. Between these two extremes, there will be two other series of outwardly inclined jets defined, one by the grooves 31 and the other by the grooves 32.

The device of this invention therefore comprises means for producing a plurality of concentric rings of jets, the jets of each ring being directed at an angle different from that of any other ring or jets. Thus only in the lowermost position of FIGURE 2 or a position closely approximating it, is it that all of the jets emerge in a direction largely controlled by the Washer 24 and by the minimum depth of each groove. In that event, with the parts as shown in FIGURE 2, substantially all of the jets emerge in a single ring of jets, each substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shower head assembly.

The outwardly directed flange 16' on the ball retainer 16 is of greater width than the perforation through the shoulder 21 of the body shell 20. Thus the parts are held together and removal of the body shell can only occur in the upward direction.

The clearance between the edges of the perforation 35 and the screw 34 is suflicient to permit air to pass inwardly. Thus when the shower head is associated with a system which must also direct Water to a tub, air may enter through the clearance 35' and the opening 4 to permit the water in the pipe system to drain into the hub.

The notches 8 in the body portion 1 not only provide passage for the water outwardly to the edges of the spray former but also straddle the spokelite parts 29 of the spray former and prevent relative rotation of the spray former 25 and the body 1.

The air disk 36 in the position of FIGURE 2 is Seated against the partition 3 and covers the perforations or passages 4 but because of the clearance between the perforation and the screw 34, a relatively small quantity of air may move past the disk 36 even when the disk is seated. The quantity of air which can pass when the parts are in this position is not sufficient to cause whistling or any otherwise audible sound.

To clear the shower head, the handle 40 is rotated to bring the eccentric 39 to the highest position. When this is done, the lower edge of the shell 20 is raised above the spray former and thus the notches in it are completely clear and water discharge through the spray head washes them completely clear.

The area of the lower side of the member 9 is the same as the area of that portion of the periphery of the spray former which lies directly below the member 9. Thus the pressure of the water within the space below the portion 9 and above the spray former is balanced and no tendency is created to move the spray former as a result of water pressure within the spray bead.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been shown and described, it should be realized that there are many alterations, substitutions and modifications thereto within the scope of the following claims.

The material of which the faucet is made may be metal, wholly or in part. Certain parts may be conveniently made in non-metallic material, such as suitable plastic. The eccentric cam 39 is of such a material, as also are the spray former, the body, the O-ring and the sealing member. The invention is however not limited to any particular material.

I claim:

1. An adjustable shower head including:

a ball retainer having an annular internal surface at one end thereof adapted to engage a ball and internal threads and an outwardly projecting shoulder at the opposite end thereof,

a hollow tubular body having external threads at one end thereof with said threads engaging the internal threads of said ball retainer,

a body shell fitting around said hollow tubular body and having one end slidably engageable with said ball retainer inwardly of said shoulder,

a partition located in said hollow tubular body and having at least one water passage therethrough,

a spray former positioned at the end of said hollow tubular body opposite to said externally threaded end,

a removable fastener supported on and extending through said partition and engaging said spray former to secure said spray former to said hollow tubular body,

said fastener being removable only through said externally threaded end of said hollow tubular body,

said spray former comprising a disc-like member having a plurality of grooves of different inclinations with respect to the axis of said spray former but with the same depths at the downstream end thereof with said grooves being arranged in the periphery of the spray former and facing outwardly thereof,

said body shell and said spray former grooves defining water jet outlet passages with said body shell being movable relative to said spray former between a first position of adjustment wherein the body shell covers all of the grooves except the outermost ends thereof and other positions of adjustment exposing successively greater portions of said grooves,

at least one water passage connecting the interior of said hollow tubular body and said spray former grooves,

a shaft pivoted in said hollow tubular body and extending outwardly thereof through said body shell, and

an eccentric mounted on said shaft and engageable with said body shell to move said body shell relative to said spray former upon rotation of said shaft.

2. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said hollow tubular body member has notched portions in its end adjacent said spray former and said spray former has radially extending spoke portions which fit into said notched portions to lock said spray former against rotation relative to said hollow tubular member.

3. The structure of claim 2 further characterized in that said notched portions form said water passage from the interior of said hollow tubular body to the water jet outlet passages between said body shell and said spray former.

4. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that an air seat is located in said hollow tubular body and is biased to move towards the ball retainer to close the water passages in said partition.

5. The structure of claim 4 further characterized in that said air seat is guided for movement along said fastener.

6. The structure of claim 5 further characterized in that said fastener extends through an opening in said air seat and said opening has sufficient clearance around said fastener to allow limited air flow through said air seat.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,779,6-25 1/1957 Filliung 239-111 1,849,517 3/1932 Fraser 239-460 2,118,943 5/1938 Price et al 239-107 2,285,831 6/1942 Pennypacker 239-460 2,569,255 9/1951 Pagliuso 239-460 2,936,958 5/1960 Shames et al. 239-460 X 2,968,443 1/1961 Manning 239-107 X 2,990,122 6/1961 Blumberg et al. 239-107 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

VAN C. WILKS, Assistant Examiner. 

